Real-time sales support and learning tool

ABSTRACT

A real time sales support method includes automatically monitoring an interaction between a sales agent and a customer. One or more contexts of the interaction are determined and, based on the contexts, stored information relevant to the interaction is automatically retrieved. The retrieved information is provided in an electronically presentable format to the sales agent to be shared with the customer.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to data presentation andcollaboration tools. More particularly, the present invention relates toa real-time sales support and learning tool.

Many environments in business and elsewhere require collaboration andcommunication between individuals to convey knowledge and information toone of them with the assistance of another. The knowledge recipient hasparticular requirements and questions that need to be satisfied. Theknowledge agent has access to the information and the ability to helpsolve those questions. Conveying information and getting questionsanswered is a goal of both parties.

One particular environment where this situation occurs is the retailsales environment. A customer is in need of information about productsand services for sale. A sales agent has some information to help answerthe customer's questions, but maybe not all the necessary information.The customer's questions may be very general if the customer is new tothe field or just beginning the acquire information. If the customer ismore knowledgeable, or as the sales transaction proceeds, the customer'squestions can become very specific.

An example is retail sales in a home appliance store. Such a store sellsa variety of electronics, such as desktop and laptop computers, videosystems including televisions and digital video disk (DVD) systems,audio systems, telecommunications systems including cellular andcordless telephones, and durable goods such as laundry systems,refrigerators and ranges. A sales agent in such a store can be expectedto sell any of these products or any subset of these products. Each ofthese product groups presents a different context for customerinteraction. Moreover, multiple manufacturers provide products within aproduct group, presenting other, different contexts for the sales agent.The sales agent can expect the widest range of questions about theseproduct manufacturers, as well. Each customer's level of sophisticationpresents yet another context to which the sales agent must respond.

Additional challenges face the sales agent in this environment. Productsare updated frequently and new features often become available. More andmore products and features are converging, such as personal computerswith audio and video interfaces, requiring ever broader knowledge by thesales agent. Marketing techniques change too, as product specials areoffered to customers or store sales goals are implemented—all of whichmust be a part of the knowledge base which the sales agent must possess.Moreover, the information must be readily at hand. Customers may nothave time or patience to retrieve information from printed sources suchas product brochures or from centrally located—and therefore, lessconvenient—sources such as electronic kiosks and the like. Informationshould be available in real time, where the customer is located with thesales agent.

On the other hand, labor is one of the largest cost components of anyretail business. Increasingly, retailers face high labor turnover ratesand short product shelf life. As a result, there is little incentive forretailers to invest heavily in staff training. At the same time, ascompetition in retailing increases, there is increased emphasis onproviding customer service. This calls for knowledgeable sales agentswho can respond to the inquiries of the customer in a timely fashion andwork to achieve sales and service goals of the retailer as well. Inparticular, a substantial technical problem is presented by the need tohave near-real-time, context-specific information such as productinformation available for use by the sales agent who may operate in manydifferent contexts and who may not be fully trained about the productand related products and services. The technical problem includesidentifying the current context, locating appropriate information andgetting the information to the sales agent in a short enough time to beresponsive to the customer. The sales agent requires assistance tocollaborate with the customer to determine the customer's informationneeds and fill those needs.

The retail sales environment is just one example of an environment inwhich such collaboration is required. In other environments as well, twoor more individuals need to work together to achieve a common goal suchas completing a sale. However, having ready access to necessaryinformation, when the need for that information can arise in a varietyof contexts, presents an increasing challenge.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved, context-sensitivecollaboration tool for retrieving and conveying needed information in atime-efficient manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY

By way of introduction only, the present embodiments provide a solutionto the gap between the point of sensing a customer's need and the pointof delivering the content/knowledge of use to both the sales agent andthe customer. The disclosed embodiments fill in the gap by continuouslyand proactively monitoring the context of the interactions between thesales agent and the customer, including location, topics, brands, andproduct names. The system then uses this contextual information toautomatically extract and display the matched product information thathelps the customer make a right buying decision. In so doing, it savesboth the sales agent and customer time and effort, and helps improve theoverall shopping experience.

By gleaning the context relevant to the interaction, the system has theability to jump to a “leaf node” of information within the largerhierarchical tree of content. This frees the customer from conductingsearches or laboriously clicking through volumes of text. Theinformation provided in the customer service context fills theinformation need of the customer.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a real-time learning andperformance support tool. Exemplary embodiments are built on a number ofemerging technologies including Tablet Personal Computers (PCs),Bluetooth wireless communication, speech recognition, 802.11 wirelesscommunication, and knowledge modeling. In a typical usage embodiment, auser such as a sales associate in an electronics retail store wears asmall Bluetooth ear-set, and carries a tablet PC. When he meets with acustomer that has a specific question he cannot answer, he paraphrasesor simply repeats the question. The Bluetooth ear-set picks up the voicestream for processing by other components of the system. The applicationuses speech recognition to discern the type of conversation by lookingfor specific keywords or phrases being used. When a match is found, thesystem retrieves related product information from various sources, anddisplays it on the tablet screen, which may then be shared with thecustomer. To keep the user's attention focused on the customer, theapplication whispers to the user through the Bluetooth ear-set when amatch is found. Thus, the user only shifts his attention to the tabletwhen he is sure the right content is there. The prototype also uses an802.11-based location engine to pinpoint the current location of theuser and the customer in the electronics retail store. This helpsimprove accuracy by looking only for product stock keeping units (SKUs)that fall into the specific department rather than the entire store.

Underlying some embodiments is a knowledge-based approach, which tellsthe application what to listen to as well as how to respond to specifictriggers. The premise is that, in any sales domain, there are arelatively small number of customer interactions that account for amajority of transactions and profits. The key is to be able to modelthese types of canonical situations, and embed the resulting models inthe application so that they are accessible to all personnel. In retail,customer interactions typically encompass two elements: dialoguepatterns and product information. For example, a typical conversationmight start with questions like “where can I find X,” “I'm interested inX,” or “can you tell me the difference between X and Y?” (where X and Yare product or category names like “wireless routers,” “digitalcameras,” or “plasma television”). To recognize these patterns, theapplication embodies a set of customized grammars. In addition, thesystem may also employ a knowledge map for products and related topicsso that, when a response is recognized, such as “you seem to beinterested in home networks,” the system knows where the product tree isto take the customer to, and what kind of content to show on the tabletPC.

The disclosed embodiments feature a novel use of speech recognition tofacilitate customer interactions. Although speech technology isincreasingly available, its applications today are of two kinds:telephony based interactive voice response (IVR), and multi-modalinterface to computers and other digital devices. In the presentlydisclosed embodiments, in contrast, speech is used as a sensingmechanism that continuously listens to the current conversation, andseamlessly invokes appropriate knowledge items when the right trigger ishit. To further personalize the experience, this conversational contextmay be combined with other types of information about a specificcustomer, including real-time location and past purchases.

In today's highly competitive retail environment, the disclosed systemcan provide retailers a powerful means of helping reduce cost andimprove the quality of services. Toward that end, the presentlydisclosed embodiments can serve as a just-in-time learning tool and as areal-time performance support tool.

As a just-in-time learning tool, the system can reduce the amount ofupfront training required by proactively delivering to the salesassociate the right knowledge about products of interest to the currentcustomer. The system enables the sales associate to be moreknowledgeable and helpful. The tool also allows cross-selling andup-selling of products that the sales associate might not have knownabout before. For customers who are accustomed to finding their own wayinside the store, the presence of the tool has a “pull-in” effect, whichdraws them into potentially fruitful interactions, collaborative productexploration, and ultimately, sales.

As a real-time performance support tool, the system is easily adaptableto settings other than retail stores, including sales force and customersupport. In pharmaceutical sales, for example, face-to-face time withphysicians is often difficult to come by and brief in duration; yet ithas critical impact on physician prescribing behavior. Thepharmaceutical seller must ensure that the right marketing and salesmessages are consistently delivered to physicians at just the righttime. The present system can enable the salesperson to break away from atypical canned sales presentation and dive right into the relevantcontent points based on the physician vocal response as detected andprocessed by the system. It can help improve the effectiveness ofphysician interaction by adapting the message to the individual as wellas to the specific situation.

Alternatively, in a call-center scenario, a similar application can beused to listen to the conversation between the customer and the supportrepresentative. When certain trigger phrases or keywords are mentionedand detected by the system, appropriate help information can beautomatically retrieved by the system and immediately displayed. Withthis timely targeted information, the representative will be betterequipped to help the customer, and the average waiting time can also besignificantly reduced.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system implementing a real-time salessupport and learning tool;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of operating the systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates the arrangement of departments in an exemplary homeappliance and electronics store;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary screen shot with content produced in responseto detection of the keyword VIDEO CABLE;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary screen shot with content produced in responseto detection of the keyword WIRELESS NETWORK;

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary screen shot with content produced in responseto detection of the keyword WIRELESS STANDARDS;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary screen shot with content produced in responseto detection of the keyword LCD AND PLASMA TVS;

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary screen shot with content produced in responseto a clickthrough on the hyperlink Plasma TV of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary product knowledge tree for use with thedepartments in the exemplary home appliance and electronics store ofFIG. 3; and

FIGS. 10-14 illustrate exemplary grammars for use by the system 100 ofFIG. 1 in processing speech detected by the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PRESENTLY PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system100 implementing a real-time sales support and learning tool. The system100 is particularly useful for providing a real-time performance supporttool, for example to a sales agent interacting with a customer in aretail sales environment. The system 100 is further particularly usefulfor providing a just-in-time learning tool which provides neededinstruction to a sales agent at the time the instruction is neededduring a customer interaction. The system 100 is still furtherparticularly useful for providing a collaboration tool which enablescollaboration between the sales agent and the customer to meet thecustomer's purchase needs. Each of these aspects of the system 100 willbe described in further detail below.

The system 100 includes a communication infrastructure 102 and one ormore portable computer system s 104. In one embodiment, thecommunication infrastructure is installed in a retail sales store. Salesagents employed by the retail sales store are equipped with portablecomputers such as the portable computer system 104 while the salesagents are working on the sales floor of the store. The sales agentsinteract with customers, identify customer product and servicerequirements, answer customer questions and respond to other customerinquiries. The system 100 becomes a participant in these customerinteractions.

The communication infrastructure 102 generally includes a wirelesscommunication network 106 and a server system 108. The server system 108further includes a server 110 and a database 112. The arrangement shownin FIG. 1 is exemplary only. Other embodiments will include other typesof devices and other configurations, some of which will be describedgenerally below.

The wireless communication network 106 may be any suitable networkproviding data communication, such as a WiFi network. WiFi is a wirelessdata network also referred to as 802.11 or 802.11(b) or 802.11 (g),referring to the standard published by the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers, Incorporated. Other types of wireless datacommunication, such as communication according to published standards orother non-standardized communication, may be used in place of or inaddition to WiFi in the wireless communication network 106. A variety ofsuitable communication networks, implementing the WiFi standard or otherstandards, are available from several vendors.

Preferably, the wireless communication network 106 includes a networkcontroller and one or more radio circuits such as radio circuit 114positioned throughout the area served by the system 100. In theexemplary retail sales environment, the wireless communication network106 includes at least one radio circuit 114 in each department of thestore. Only one radio circuit 114 is shown in FIG. 1 so as to not undulycomplicate the drawing figure. Each radio circuit serves a designatedarea, providing radio communication to portable radio devices such asthe portable computer system 104 in the designated area. The radiocircuit 114 includes a radio receiver and radio transmitter for radiocommunication with suitably-equipped devices in the area served by theradio circuit. The radio circuit 114 also includes a data communicationinterface for wireline data communication with other radio circuits andthe network controller of the wireless communication network 106. Inthis manner, data communicated over radio links by the radio circuit canbe communicated with other locations in the system, such as the serversystem 108.

The server system 108 in the exemplary embodiment includes the server110 and the database 112. In other embodiments, the respective elementsmay be replaced with other components capable of performing thefunctions described herein. For example, instead of a single server 110and database 112, the server system 108 may include several serversaccessing several databases. Partitioning of the system may be based ona variety of factors, such as cost and required performance. In manyenvironments, near-real-time performance is required for retrieval ofinformation from the database 112 by the server 110, so this design goalmay predominate over others.

In the illustrated embodiment, the server 110 includes hardware andsoftware to implement the functionality described herein. Any suitablehardware may be used. In one embodiment, the Microsoft Speech Serversoftware is used to perform speech processing as described herein. Othersoftware packages may be substituted. The server receives informationincluding about the interaction between a sales agent equipped with theportable computer system 104 and a customer. The information preferablyincludes recorded or encoded speech. The server 110 processes theinformation including the speech, for example to identify key words orconcepts contained therein. In response to identified key words, theserver 110 accesses the database 112 to retrieve relevant productinformation. The server 110 then serves data including the relevantproduct information to the wireless communication network 106 forcommunication to the portable computer system 104.

The database 112 stores information for access by the server 110 andpresentation over the wireless communication network 106 to the portablecomputer system 104. The data may be stored in any data format. In theexemplary embodiment, the data relates to product information aboutproducts for sale in the retail sales store. The information may be veryspecific, such as features or technical specifications of a particularmake and model device. The information may also be very general, such asinformation about classes of products or technologies. The data storedmay define information which is textual, graphical, audio, video or anycombination which can be delivered to and used by the portable computersystem 104.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the portable computer system 104includes a portable computer 120 and a wireless headset 122. Theportable computer 120 includes a display 124, a stylus 126, a WiFi radiointerface 128 and a Bluetooth radio interface 130. The portable computer104 may be any sort of processing and data display device which may bereadily carried by a sales agent working on a retail sales floor. Oneexample is referred to as a tablet personal computer (PC) and has a userinterface that includes the display 124 and the stylus 126. An operatorsuch as the sales agent interacts with the tablet PC using the stylus126 to activate portions of the display 124 and by viewing the display126 produced by the tablet PC's operation. One example of a suitabletablet PC is manufactured by Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, Calif.

The WiFi radio interface 128 is a radio circuit which permits wirelessradio communication between the portable computer 120 and another radiocircuit with matching capability. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the WiFiradio interface 128 communicates with the radio circuit 114 of the radionetwork 106. Any other radio communication may be substituted for theWiFi communication provided by the WiFi radio interface 128. A radiostandard defines frequencies and data interchange protocols for use byboth receiver and transmitter in a radio link. Suitable WiFi radiocircuits are available from a variety of vendors.

The Bluetooth radio interface 130 is a radio circuit which provideswireless radio communication between the portable computer 120 andanother radio circuit, such as a matching radio interface of thewireless headset 122. Bluetooth is a radio transmission and receptionstandard providing high speed data communication over a relatively shortrange (e.g., 10 m). In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, a Bluetoothlink is established with the wireless headset 122 so that signalsrepresentative of audio may be exchanged with the wireless data headset122. The Bluetooth radio interface 130 converts digital electricalsignals from the portable computer 120 to radio signals fortransmission. Similarly, the Bluetooth radio interface 130 receivesradio signals and converts them to digital electronic data signals.Suitable Bluetooth radio circuits are available from a variety ofvendors.

The wireless headset 122 may be any conventional headset capable ofwireless communication using a radio standard such as Bluetooth. Thewireless headset 122 includes a microphone 132, a speaker 134 and aBluetooth radio interface 136. The microphone 132 produces electricalsignals in response to sounds such as speech detected by the microphone132. The speaker 134 plays audible sound in response to electricalsignals representative of the sound. The Bluetooth radio interface 136provides radio communication of the audio signals from the microphone132 to the portable computer 120 and of audio signals from the portablecomputer 120 to the speaker 134.

In other embodiments, any suitable wireless communications standard maybe used, including optical standards such as the IrDA infrared dataexchange standard. In still other embodiments, the Bluetooth radiointerfaces 130, 136 may be omitted and a wireline headset may be used inconjunction with the portable computer 120. A wireline connection may bepreferred in some applications which are electrically noisy, such as anelectronic appliance store where many appliances are present to generateelectromagnetic noise or many other Bluetooth devices are present andactive. However, in general, a wireless headset 122 is preferred so thatthe participation of the portable computer, in conjunction with thewireless communication network 106, may be as non-obtrusive as possible.

The portable computer 120 further includes other conventional componentsto provide full PC functionality. These components include a processorand memory for storage of data and software applications. The portablecomputer 120 includes an operating system, such as the Windows XP®operating system from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. For use inconjunction with the system 100, the portable computer 120 may have itsfunctionality reduced or tailored to its specialized operation. Thus,applications which have little or no use in the system 100, such as wordprocessing and spreadsheet applications, are omitted. Otherapplications, which are directly used in the system 100 such as datatransfer from the server system 102 and speech processing, may beoptimized on the portable computer.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating one method for operating thesystem 100 of FIG. 1. The method begins at block 200. A variety ofoperational embodiments may be implemented. In one embodiment the system100 operates as a real-time performance support tool. One example ofthis embodiment may be implemented in a retail sales environment such asa home appliance and electronics store. A sales agent employed by thestore wears the wireless headset 122 and carries the portable computer120. In one embodiment, when the sales agent encounters a customer andfaces a question from the customer he cannot answer, he paraphrases thequestion. Meanwhile, the system operates in a loop, block 202,determining if any speech is detected. If speech is detected by themicrophone 132 of the wireless headset 122, control proceeds to block204. The system then operates in a loop, monitoring the spoken words,searching for an identified keyword. Keywords are previously identifiedwords which, when detected, cause the system to retrieve relevantcontent from the database of the server system. The relevant contentincludes, for example, product information selected based on thedetected keyword.

During this process, the microphone 132 of the wireless headset 122detects the words spoken by the sales agent. The spoken words areconverted to digital data which is transmitted over the Bluetooth radiolink to the portable computer. The speech recognition applicationoperating on the portable computer 120 detects keyword(s) from theconversation. In one embodiment, one or more grammars are implemented toprocess the speech, detect predefined keywords and return keywordvalues. One example of grammar processing to detect keywords will bedescribed below in conjunction with FIGS. 10-14. Any number of keywordsand keyword combinations may be predefined. Preferably, the keywords areclosely associated with the nature of the interaction being monitored,such as product types, product categories, departments, brand names,etc.

The keywords are conveyed over the WiFi radio link to the server system108, block 206. The server system 108 uses the keyword to look up theproduct database. Product data are retrieved from the database 210 bythe server, block 208. The product data are conveyed over the WiFi linkto the portable computer 120, block 212. The portable computer 120 thendisplays the matched content on the tablet 124, block 214.

It is to be understood that processing of speech and accessing theproduct database can be done using any convenient device, anywhere inthe system. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 is exemplary only. Inother embodiments, the portable computer may have much reducedprocessing and data storage capability, such as a PDA. In an applicationusing such a device, more speech processing will be shifted to a remotelocation, such as a the speech server, to identify keywords and accessthe database. In other applications, the size of the database andprocessing power of the portable computer may be such that allprocessing is done locally, with speech processed to find keywords andthe database accessed on a hard disk or other storage medium at thatportable computer. Thus, the processing and data storage burdens may bepartitioned in any convenient manner.

The application continues monitoring the conversation at block 202. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 2, the content retrieved from the server systemis displayed on the portable computer 120. Preferably, the content isarranged with graphical and textual information and hyperlinks toadditional content. As the customer's questions are answered andadditional questions arise, the sales agent may use the stylus 126 toactuate hyperlinks in the display and navigate the content to findadditional information. By following additional hyperlinks, additionalpages of information can be displayed. Meanwhile, the system continuesto monitor the conversation between the sales agent and the customer tosearch for keywords. If a keyword is detected, the relevant content isretrieved and provided to the portable computer for use by the salesagent. In this manner, the system is operated as a real-time salessupport tool for answering customer questions, identifying products orservices desired by the customer and closing the sale.

In an alternative embodiment, instead of solely displaying content onthe portable computer, the wireless headset is used to conveyproduct-relevant content to the sales agent. To avoid taking the salesagent's attention away from the customer (by having to constantly lookat the tablet display), in one embodiment the application uses thewireless headset 122, FIG. 1, and “whispers” to the sale agentinformation that is displayed on the portable computer 120 orinformation that supplements the displayed information. This can beaccomplished by conveying from the server system 102 audio data andinstructions that cause the portable computer 120 to convey the audiodata over the Bluetooth wireless link so that the wireless headset 122can decode the audio data and play the content as speech into the salesagent's ear. Thus, the sales agent only needs to look at the tabletdisplay when he thinks the matched content is shown there.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, some speech processing is doneat the portable computer. The bulk of the speech processing, includingidentifying spoken keywords and relevant content, is performed at theserver system 102. In alternative embodiments, all speech processing canbe performed at the portable computer 120. This eliminates the need forthe WiFi radio link and the wireless communication network 106, as wellas the server system. Also, if the portable computer 120 has an on-boardmicrophone, the system can directly monitor both sides of theinteraction, not just the sales agent's paraphrasing of the customer'squestions. In this modified embodiment, the Bluetooth wireless link andthe wireless headset 122 can be eliminated from the system 100. It willbe appreciated that the functionality of the system among theillustrated components and others not illustrated in FIG. 1 may bepartitioned in any suitable manner. Partitioning may be based onperformance goals (such as near-real-time processing, as required by theillustrated system), cost, availability of suitable components, andother factors.

To improve accuracy of the server in identifying the relevantinformation required by the customer, geographic information about theinteraction between the customer and the sales agent may be used. Forexample in the exemplary embodiment of a system operating in a homeappliance and electronics store, the system 100 can more quickly andreliably identify the information sought by the customer. If theinteraction begins in an area of the store devoted to home electronics,and if the system 100 can be made aware of that geographic information,the system 100 can reduce its processing of speech data by focusing onidentifying keywords related to home electronics, and avoiding keywordsrelated to home appliances.

FIG. 3 illustrates this. FIG. 3 illustrates the arrangement ofdepartments in an exemplary home appliance and electronics store 300,designated in this example as ESB Electronics. In the example, the store300 includes an appliance department 302, a home theater department 304,a home office department 306, a mobile and wireless communicationdepartment 308, a computers department 310, a music and moviesdepartment 312, and a digital imaging department 312. In conventionalretailing style, related products are grouped together. Informationabout this grouping and physical location in the store can be used bythe system 100 (FIG. 1).

In one embodiment, the system determines the geographic location withinthe store 300 of the interaction between the sales agent and thecustomer. The system 100 of FIG. 1 makes use of an 802.11b basedlocation engine to pinpoint the current location of the sale rep and thecustomer. Such an engine operates in conjunction with the wirelesscommunication network 106 of FIG. 1. The network 106 includes aplurality of radio circuits positioned through the store 300. Forexample, antennas and the radio circuits themselves may be located inceiling recesses above the sales floor of the store 300. Any of avariety of algorithms may be used to determine the position of theportable computer 120 in relation to two or more radio circuits of thenetwork 106. With that relative positioning information and informationabout the exact location of radio circuits in the store, the engine canlocate with precision the portable computer 120 in the store. Thus, theWiFi wireless communication network 106 of FIG. 1 may be used to locatethe portable computer 120 in the store. Other geo-location systems maybe used to provide similar information to the system. By knowing thelocation of the interaction between sales agent and customer, the system100 may look only for products or SKUs that fall into the departmentwhere the sales agent and portable computer are currently located.

It may be seen that the server system 102 selects and serves contentbased on the context of the interaction between the sales agent and thecustomer. The context of the interaction typically includes severalindependent and dependent contexts. In the exemplary embodiment systeminstalled in a home appliance and electronics store, one context is thegeneral product area about which the customer inquires, home appliancessuch as refrigerators, washers and dryers, and home electronics such astelevisions and computer equipment. Within the context of computerequipment, additional dependent contexts may be identified, such aswireless local area network equipment, laptop computers and routers.Thus, the speech information detected from the interaction and thekeywords provide contextual information for the system 100.

Further, the geographic location of the interaction provides additionalcontextual information. The system may determine from the location ofthe interaction provided by the wireless communication network that thecustomer and the sales agent are currently located in the home appliancedepartment 302. This geographic information may be used to select fromthe database relevant content. This information may also be used withspeech-based context information to better refine the nature of thecustomer's inquiry. For example, if the system 100 identifies thekeywords “microprocessor controlled” in the interaction, the value tothe system for identifying relevant information based on this contextdata alone is small. On the other hand, if the system 100 can correlatethe detected keyword with the geographic information that theinteraction occurs in the home appliance department 302 of the store300, the system 100 can assume that the customer is inquiring aboutappliances with advanced control systems, and retrieve content on thattopic for display on the portable computer. Thus, the system issensitive to a variety of contexts of the interaction with the customer.When contextual information is available, the content provided in realtime to the portable computer for use by the sales agent can be tailoredbased on a plurality of contexts. This speeds the retrieval process andfocuses the information on responding to the true need of the customer.

In some cases, there is too much content to be displayed readably on thetablet screen of the portable computer. In this case, where a largerdisplay is desired, the system provides to the sales agent a list ofavailable nearby large-screen displays. By selecting one of the listedlarge-screen displays using, for example, the stylus 126 on the displayscreen 124, the sales agent can actuate the system so that theinformation to be provided is routed by the system to the large display.The large screen display can be part of a product information kiosklocated at convenient locations on the sales floor of the store. Thelarge screen display can thus be brought into the interaction to providea better view of additional information for the customer.

By way of illustration, several exemplary customer interactions areprovided. These illustrate the connection between the system and theinteraction. In the following text, contextual information usable by thesystem is show in bold text. Keywords are show in BOLD UPPER CASEletters.

Scene One

A customer comes to the Home Theatre Department of a local homeelectronics and appliance store. Mike, a sales representative employedby the store, approaches the customer. Mike carries a portable computerand wears a wireless headset similar to those described above inconjunction with FIG. 1. Mike asks the customer,

“Hi, my name is Mike. How can I help you?”

“I need a cable to hook up my DVD player and a big screen TV.”

“So, you're looking for a VIDEO CABLE then. Do you know what kind ofcable you want?”

“I'm not quite sure. Can you show me what you have?”

“Absolutely . . . let's see . . . ”

Mike turns around to share the tablet PC screen with the customer. FIG.4 shows an exemplary screen shot with content 400 produced in responseto detection of the keyword VIDEO CABLE and determination that thecustomer and Mike are in the Home Theater Department. The screen showsthree types of video cables: composite, s-video, and component. Thethree cable types are presented in three content display areas 402, 404,406. Each content display area 402, 404, 406 lists advantages anddisadvantages for each type of video cable. In other embodiments,additional content including advertising, related products and featuredproducts may be displayed elsewhere on the display, such as at thebottom. In accordance with one preferred embodiment, each of the contentdisplay areas contains a hyperlink to additional related information.For example, clicking on the Component video cable content display area406 redirects the display of the portable computer to a more detailedscreen with information about more component video cable products.

Scene Two

As he's finishing up with taking care of the current customer, Mikenotices another customer at the Computers/Home Office Department acrossthe aisle. The customer looks somewhat lost. Mike quickly walks up tohim, and says:

“Hi, my name is Mike. How can I help you?”

“Oh . . . yeah. I've just got my DSL connection up running at home. Mytwo kids are constantly fighting to get on the Internet. A friend ofmine told me I can share my DSL line among the two computers I have.”

“That's correct. What you're looking for is a HOME NETWORK.”

“Yes, that's it. Now I remember. My friend told me I can link them upwithout any wires.”

“It's called “WIRELESS NETWORK”—very popular these days. Would you liketo know what you need to get your HOME NETWORK up running?”

“Sure . . . ”

“Let me show you . . . ”

Mike turns around to share the tablet PC screen with the customer. FIG.5 shows an exemplary screen shot with content 500 produced in responseto detection of the keyword WIRELESS NETWORK and determination that thecustomer and Mike are in the Computers/Home Office Department. Thescreen shows four content display areas 502, 504, 506, 508 includingfour main components of a wireless network: a HIGH SPEED MODEM, aROUTER, a LAPTOP NETWORK INTERFACE CARD, and A USB NETWORK ADAPTOR.Since the customer already has DSL connection, what he needs now is arouter and network cards. Each of the four content display areas 502,504, 506, 508 includes a hyperlink to addition relevant information. Thestylus of the portable computer may be used to activate one of thehyperlinks. Clicking on the router hyperlink of the content display area502 redirects the portable computer to another screen with more featuredrouter products.

At this time, the customer suddenly asks the question,

“What are the differences between these routers? Are they compatiblewith each other?”

“Yes and no. There are different kinds of WIRELESS STANDARDS . . . letme know show you . . . ”

In response to detection of the keyword WIRELESS STANDARDS, the tabletPC screen next shows a table that compares 802.11b, a, and g wirelessstandards, and the features each of them supports. FIG. 6 shows anexemplary screen shot with content 600 produced in response to detectionof the keyword WIRELESS STANDARDS. The content in FIG. 6 is arranged inthe form of a table 602, with information provided about each of therespective standards. The wireless standards are named along the rows ofthe table 602. Each of the columns of the table 602 identifies aperformance aspect of the standard, such as operating speed andfrequency, range, compatibility and popularity.

At this point, Mike observes,

“This table is kind of hard to read. Let me see whether I bring it on tothe large screen over here.”

Mikes clicks on the tablet PC, and the full content displayed in FIG. 6shows up at a nearby large plasma display. The system detects theactuation of the tablet PC and routes the content through the wirelesscommunication network 106 (FIG. 1) or a wireline data communicationnetwork to a suitably equipped display device. Mike and the customerreview the comparison table of the three wireless standards, and thecustomer finally decides to go with an 802.11b router.

Scene Three

As Mike returns to the Home Theatre Department, a rushing customerapproaches him and asks,

“Hey . . . can you tell me the difference between LCD and plasma TV?”

“Hmmm . . . you want to know the differences between LCD AND PLASMA TVS. . . let me see . . . ”

Mike turns around to share the tablet PC screen with the customer. FIG.7 shows an exemplary screen shot with content 700 produced in responseto detection of the keyword LCD AND PLASMA TVS. The display includesthree content display areas 702, 704, 706. The screen compares threetypes of flat panel displays: Plasma, LCD, and DLP, including size,brightness, contrast, and burn-in. Each of the content display areas702, 704, 706 is associated with a hyperlink. By actuating thehyperlink, for example, using the stylus on the display of the portablecomputer, redirects the portable computer to specific information. As anexample, FIG. 8 shows an exemplary screen shot with content 800 producedin response to a clickthrough on the hyperlink Plasma TV of FIG. 7. FIG.8 shows a more detailed list of products in the plasma TV group.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary product knowledge tree 900 for use with thedepartments in the exemplary home appliance and electronics store ofFIG. 3. The product knowledge tree 900 models the knowledge aboutdepartments, categories of products within departments, types ofproducts within the product categories, and so on, even to the brand andmodel level. The root of the product tree is the identifier of the homeappliance and electronics store, ESB Electronics, block 902.

Organized hierarchically beneath the root level at block 902 is thedepartment level. Corresponding to the departments in the store 300(FIG. 3), the product knowledge tree 900 includes a block 904 for themusic and movies department 312, a block 906 for the home theaterdepartment 304, a block 908 for the home office department 306, a block910 for the mobile and wireless communications department 308, a block912 for the home appliances department 302, a block 914 for thecomputers department 310, and a block 916 for the digital imagingdepartment 314.

Each block of the product knowledge tree 900 models the productinformation relevant to that block and the blocks hierarchicallycontained therein. In FIG. 9, some blocks are shown expanded toillustrate the hierarchical relationship. Thus, block 906 is expanded toshow its components, block 920 for DVD Players and recorders, block 922for Televisions and block 924 for Accessories. Similarly, block 914 forComputers contains product information for a variety of computer types,such as PDAs and handheld computers in block 926, home networkingdevices in block 928, desktop computers in block 930 and computersoftware in block 932. Within the product category of home networking,block 928 contains product information about product types includingwireless networks, block 934 and wired networks, block 936. Stillfurther, within the product category of wireless networks, block 934contains product information about product types including cable and DSLmodems, block 940, wireless routers, block 942, and network interfacecards, block 944. The product information may be further categorized orbroken down hierarchically.

Each of the blocks in the product knowledge tree 900 corresponds to dataand information about the identified topic stored in a database such asthe database 112 of the system 100 described above in conjunction withFIG. 1. The data and other information may include text data, audio andvideo data, graphical data and other information for display to acustomer. The data stored in the database may also define thehierarchical relationships modeled in FIG. 9.

An important function of the system and method described herein is usingkeywords from the conversation between a sales agent and a customer,along with other contextual information to determine where in theproduct knowledge tree 900 to access relevant information to betransmitted to the sales agent for use in the interaction. For example,if the system detects the keyword “home theater” uttered by the salesagent, the system will access data associated with block 906 of theproduct knowledge tree 900 in FIG. 9. Here, the context is provided bythe decoded keyword. In another example, if the location engine for the802.11 system determines that the interaction is taking place in thecomputers department, corresponding to block 914, and the system detectsthe keyword “wireless network,” the system can jump to informationassociated with block 934 to retrieve relevant data for use by the salesagent. The information retrieved might be that illustrated in FIG. 5 orFIG. 6, including graphical and textual information for the sales agentto collaborate with the customer in answering customer questions.

The product knowledge tree 900 of FIG. 9 is exemplary only. In otherembodiments, the tree 900 will have different formats and modeldifferent types of information. While the information modeled in FIG. 9is modeled hierarchically, the nature of the product knowledge tree usedby the system described herein is not so limited. Other types of dataorganization may be used and will be used. A different type of retailstore will have different departments and different products and thus beorganized differently. If the product knowledge tree modelspharmaceutical products for presentation to a physician by apharmaceutical sales agent, the triggers and keywords and thus theproduct knowledge tree may reflect patient illnesses or symptoms ordiagnoses, or other system input features.

Thus, it can be seen that the product knowledge tree for use with thesystem described herein may be arranged in a custom manner. The tree'sarrangement may be dedicated to the particular knowledge contained inthe tree and the manner of accessing and presenting that knowledge. Themore specifically a tree is constructed around a problem, the moreresponsive the user, in conjunction with the system, can be.

FIGS. 10-14 illustrate exemplary grammars for use by the system 100 ofFIG. 1 in processing speech detected by the system. The grammarsillustrated in FIGS. 10-14 may be implemented using a Microsoft SpeechServer, available from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., or other speechprocessing device. The grammars form an interface to create anapplication using Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) or a Voice XMLfile. The SALT or Voice XML file is used for further processing by thesystem in response to the speech detected by the grammars.

As described herein, in one embodiment, it is envisioned that the systemwill detect and respond to speech of a sales agent interacting with acustomer, such as in an electronics retail store. The sales agent isequipped with a wireless head set or carries a portable computer such asa Tablet PC. This equipment detects the speech and processes it directlyor conveys it to another location, such as over a wireless network to aspeech server, for processing. In one embodiment, the sales agentengaged in conversation with the customer is trained to repeat key wordsfor detection by the system. The grammars of FIGS. 10-14 illustrateprocessing of the speech to identify a predetermined set of key words.Upon detection, the key words are used to identify at least a part ofthe context of the interaction between the sales agent and the customer.Based on the context, the system retrieves context-specific informationfor presentation to the sales agent and the customer.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary grammar 1000 for processing speechrelated to wireless routers and home network equipment. A first grammarportion 1002 detects the word “wireless” or variants. A second grammarportion 1004 detects the word “router” or other specified variants.

In the first grammar portion 1002, if the word “wireless” is detected byitself or in combination with any other speech, at assignment block1006, the value “wireless” is assigned.

In the second grammar portion 1004, the speech following the detectedword “wireless” is processed. Several alternatives are considered. Atblock 1008, if the word “router” is detected, the value “router” isassigned at block 1010 and the detected speech “wireless router” isreturned at block 1012. At block 1014, if the word “routers” isdetected, the value “router” is assigned at block 1016 and the detectedspeech “wireless routers” is returned at block 1012. At block 1018, ifthe word “network” is detected, the value “network” is assigned at block1018″ and the detected speech “wireless network” is returned at block1012. Finally, at block 1020, if the word “home” is detected, the value“home” is assigned at block 1022 and the detected speech “wireless home”is returned at block 1012. It will be appreciated that the grammar 1000can be designed to detect any number of other word combinations orspeech fragments.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment described herein, thedetected speech returned by the grammar 1000 at block 1012 is used toaccess product data at a predetermined point in a product knowledge treesuch as the product knowledge tree 900 of FIG. 9. For example, if thegrammar 1000 returns the detected speech “wireless network,” the systemaccesses data associated with block 934 of FIG. 9. This data definesproduct information related to wireless network products and standardswhich can be returned to the sales agent for sharing with the customer.

The detected speech returned by the grammar 1000 thus defines thecontext, or one context of multiple contexts, of the interaction betweenthe sales agent and the customer. Other contexts may be defined byadditional detected speech, such as a brand name or a specific product.Other contexts may be defined by the location engine which pinpoints thelocation of the sales agent and the customer in the electronics retailstore. For example, the location engine may detect that the sales agentand his Tablet PC are in the mobile and wireless department 302 (FIG. 3)and return the value “wireless networks.” The system uses thiscontextual information, along with the product knowledge tree, toretrieve context-appropriate information.

FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of a greeting grammar 1100 forprocessing a customer greeting spoken by a sales agent. The greetinggrammar 1100 is shown displayed on a Microsoft Windows DevelopmentEnvironment window suitable for developing grammars and other speechprocessing tools. The greeting grammar 1100 detects several initialconversational possibilities uttered by the sales agent which mayindicate that the sales agent is beginning an interaction with acustomer. At block 1102, the utterance “hmmm” is detected. At blocks1104, 1106, other initial conversational possibilities such as “yes” and“yeah,” respectively, are tested.

If one of the specified greetings is detected by the grammar 1000, atblock 1114 the value is returned for further processing by the system.The grammar 1100 includes a wildcard block 1116 which operates to detecta few undefined words which may follow the defined greeting terms.

As shown in FIG. 11, the grammar 1100 is designed to detect a wide rangeof other conversation initiations, including “yeah, it's called . . . ”at block 1108, and “let me show you . . . ” at block 1110. Block 1110 inthe grammar 1100 is followed by wildcard block 1112, which operates todetect a few undefined words which may follow the words “let me show you. . . ” at block 1110 so that, no matter what words follow these words,the greeting is returned at block 1114.

The grammar 1100 may be supplemented to include any of a wide variety ofpossible conversational initiations. The embodiment shown in FIG. 11 isexemplary only.

FIG. 12 shows a grammar 1200 which detects concatenation of the greetinggrammar 1100 (FIG. 11) with a product definition grammar portion 1202.The grammar 1200 also includes a wildcard block 1204 so that even if afew undefined words are interposed between the greeting grammar 1100 andthe product definition grammar portion 1202, the grammar 1200 will stillproperly detect the designated speech.

The product definition grammar portion 1202 is designed to detect speechrelated to different possible product types and set a variable valueaccordingly. For example, block 1206 determines if a plasma_displayproduct type has been referenced in the processed speech, the variable“item” is set equal to the value “plasma_display” at block 1208.

Each of the blocks such as the block 1206 within the product definitiongrammar portion 1202 implements a grammar to identify designated words.For example, block 1206 processes detected speech to identify wordsrelated to video outputs. FIG. 13 shows a grammar 1300 which implementsa portion of block 1206 of FIG. 12. The grammar 1300 includes a videoidentification block 1302 and an output identification block 1304. Theoutput identification block 1304 is expanded to show additional detailin the view of FIG. 13. The video identification block 1302 identifieswords in the detected speech which relate to or correspond to videodevices. Similarly, the output identification block 1304 identifieswords in the detected speech which relate to or correspond to the word“output.” Examples in the exemplary grammar 1300 include “output,”“outputs,” “cables,” “cable,” “formats,” and “format.” The grammar 1300including the output identification block 1304 may be designed to detectother words or word combinations as well. If one of the words designatedby the video identification block 1302 is identified in conjunction withone of the words designated by the output identification block 1304, thevariable “value” is set equal to videoOutput at block 1308 and thisvalue is returned to the product definition grammar 1202 (FIG. 12).

As described above, the values returned by the respective grammarportions are used to identify the context of the interaction between thesales agent and the customer. In a typical embodiment, the sales agentis trained to paraphrase questions or queries from the customer or torepeat portions of the question. In particular, the sales agent istrained to repeat predetermined key words for processing by the systemto identify the context and provide relevant product information. Thegrammars described herein correspond to these keywords and are used forprocessing the speech detected from the sales agent to locate theappropriate content related to the products of interest to the customer.Thus, the sales agent will have some familiarity with the productorganization and brand names available, so that suitable keywords can bestated.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary grammar 1400 showing identification ofthe department-level context of an interaction between the sales agentand the customer. Based on the spoken department name, such as“appliances” or “computer,” the value is returned by the grammar 1400.In this manner, the system can move through the product knowledge tree,FIG. 9, to select and retrieve appropriate information. The contextprovided by the grammar 1400 may be subsequently supplemented by orreplaced with additional context information detected by the system. Thesystem can dynamically react to the conversation between the parties topresent, in a just-in-time fashion, appropriate information.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present embodiments provideseveral tools for assisting an interpersonal interaction, such as aninteraction between a sales agent and a customer. In one aspect, areal-time performance support tool is provided which enables the salesagent to retrieve information in real time as the conversation betweenthe two individuals' progresses. The tool listens unobtrusively tokeywords spoken by the sales agent. Upon encountering a keyword defininga context of the interaction, the system retrieves content and pushesthe content to a portable computer used by the sales agent. The contentis available to answer customer questions, move the customer to apurchase decision and to close the sale.

Another embodiment provides a just-in-time learning tool. During aninteraction such as the conversation between a sales agent and acustomer, the sales agent may have limited knowledge or training aboutthe subject matter. However, the tool derives the context of theconversation and by listening non-obtrusively, determines what contentis needed by the sales agent to proceed. The content is providedas-needed by the sales agent, enabling the sales agent to be responsiveto the customer despite limited knowledge and training.

Another embodiment provides a collaboration tool for the sales agent andthe customer. The system listens to the conversation between the two andnon-obtrusively serves up information in response to detected keywords.As each individual poses questions or makes comments that include keywords, the key words are detected and relevant content provided to theshared portable computer. The newly provided content focuses and directsthe collaborative effort between the two individuals and refines theirshared knowledge until they reach a resolution.

As noted, the system features non-obtrusive operation. The systemlistens in the background of the conversation and quietly awaits theright triggers that link the current context to the right content. Thismeans that, in the exemplary embodiment, the sales agent does not needto explicitly tell the system what to do (as viewed by the customer). Inone embodiment, the sales agent paraphrases the customer's question sothat the headset microphone can pick up the right keyword context. Inother embodiments, the microphone of the portable computer can detectall conversational keywords from both parties.

Further, the system makes use of a variety of contexts in identifyingcontent to serve to the portable computer. The keywords used during theconversation between the sales agent and the customer form one importantcontext. Another context, namely the real-time location of theconversation, is used as well. In some embodiments, the system uses thetwo contexts together to better pinpoint what might be relevant to thecustomer.

It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description beregarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understoodthat it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that areintended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

1. A real time sales support method comprising: automatically monitoringan interaction between a sales agent and a customer; determining one ormore contexts of the interaction; based on the one or more contexts,automatically retrieving stored information relevant to the interaction;and providing the retrieved information in an electronically presentableformat to the sales agent to be shared with the customer.
 2. The methodof claim 1 wherein determining one or more contexts of the interactioncomprises: identifying a geographic context of the interaction betweenthe sales agent and the customer; and retrieving the information basedin part on the geographic context.
 3. The method of claim 2 whereinidentifying the geographic context comprises estimating a geographiclocation of the sales agent and the customer on a retail sales floor. 4.The method of claim 3 wherein automatically retrieving storedinformation comprises: based on the geographic location of the salesagent and the customer, retrieving information about products for salenear the geographic location on the retail sales floor.
 5. The method ofclaim 4 wherein automatically retrieving stored information furthercomprises: detecting context-identifying keywords among spoken words ofthe sales agent and the customer; based on the context-identifyingkeywords, retrieving additional information about the products for salenear the geographic location on the retail sales floor.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 wherein automatically monitoring the interaction comprisesnon-obtrusively detecting spoken words of at least one of the salesagent and the customer, and wherein determining one or more contexts ofthe interaction comprises detecting context-identifying keywords amongthe spoken words to identify a current context and linking the currentcontext to stored information relevant to the interaction.
 7. Areal-time sales support method comprising: at a processing device,detecting signals representative of speech of a conversation between asales agent and a customer; at the processing device, decoding thespeech to detect context keywords in the speech of the conversation; inresponse to detection of a context keyword, accessing a memory toretrieve information pertinent to a context-related informational needof the customer; and transmitting data from the processing device to adisplay device, the data producing an audio or video presentation of theretrieved information to supplement the conversation between the salesagent and the customer.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: ata microphone carried by the sales agent, detecting at least portions ofthe conversation between the sales agent and the customer and producingelectrical signals in response thereto to identify a context of theconversation; wirelessly transmitting information about the producedelectrical signals to a computer carried by the sales agent.
 9. Themethod of claim 6 further comprising: processing the information at theprocessing device of the computer carried by the sales agent; andproducing the audio or video presentation on a display of the computercarried by the sales agent, remotely to the processing device;
 10. Themethod of claim 8 further comprising: wirelessly transmitting acontext-specific query to a server from the computer carried by thesales agent; based on the query, at the server retrieving theinformation from the memory; and wirelessly transmitting acontext-specific response based on the retrieved information from theserver to the computer carried by the sales agent.
 11. The method ofclaim 10 further comprising: receiving radio signals at one or morelocations from the computer carried by the sales agent; at the server,based on the received radio signals, identifying a geographic context ofthe computer carried by the sales agent; and retrieving the informationbased in part on the geographic context.
 12. A real-time sales supporttool comprising: a data processing system; a display system; an audioinput device which detects at least part of a conversation between asales agent and a customer; programming code operational with the dataprocessing system to detect context-identifying keywords of theconversation and to retrieve from storage information based on thecontext-identifying keywords; programming code operational with the dataprocessing system and the display system to produce an audio or videopresentation of the retrieved information to supplement the conversationbetween the sales agent and the customer.
 13. The real-time salessupport tool of claim 12 further comprising: a portable computerincluding the data processing system and the display system, theportable computer configured to be carried by the sales agent; a headsetin data communication with the portable computer and including the audioinput device, the headset configured to be worn by the sales agentduring the conversation between the sales agent and the customer. 14.The real-time sales support tool of claim 12 further comprising: a radiocircuit to communicate context-specific queries to a server and toretrieve context-specific responses from the server, thecontext-specific queries being based on the context-identifyingkeywords, the context-specific responses including the informationretrieved from storage at the server.
 15. A just-in-time learning toolcomprising: an input/output device to generate signals representative ofspoken words of one or more parties to a conversation; a speech serverwirelessly coupled with the input/output device to receive the signalsand to identify specified conversational cues among the spoken words ofthe conversation to identify a current informational need of a party tothe conversation; and a data store coupled to the speech server toretrievably store information of potential interest, specificinformation relevant to the current informational need being retrievablefrom the data store upon identification of the specified conversationalcues, the specific information being provided substantially in real timefrom the data store to the input/output device to inform the party tothe conversation.
 16. The just-in-time learning tool of claim 15 whereinthe input/output device comprises one of: a tablet personal computer, apersonal digital assistant, and a wireless telephone.
 17. Thejust-in-time learning tool if claim 15 wherein the speech servercomprises one or more grammars, the one or more grammars defining thespecified conversational cues and the associated specific informationrelevant to the current informational need stored in the data store. 18.A collaboration method for a sales agent and a customer, thecollaboration method comprising: at a computing device portable by thesales agent during an interaction with the customer, receivinginformation about a conversation between the sales agent and thecustomer from an audio input device; identifying a plurality of contextsof the conversation based on the information; based on the plurality ofcontexts, identifying information that might be relevant to thecustomer; and displaying the identified information on a displayassociated with the computing device for use by the sales agent inidentifying purchase requirements of the customer.
 19. The collaborationmethod of claim 18 further comprising: transmitting signals based on theinformation about the conversation to a remotely located server; at theserver, processing the signals to determine a conversational context;and retrieving the information that might be relevant to the customerbased on the conversational context from a database associated with theserver.
 20. The collaboration method of claim 19 further comprising:locating the computing device on a sales floor; based on the location ofthe computing device, determining a geographic context; and retrievingthe information that might be relevant to the customer based on thegeographic context from the database.
 21. The collaboration method ofclaim 18 further comprising: detecting conversational prompts spoken bythe sales agent; in response to the conversational prompts, providingthe information that might be relevant to the customer.